Music's in My Soul
by xIrelandx
Summary: A series of small drabbles inspired by various songs. Mostly SoMa, but with sides of TsuStar, Kizzles, and one-sided CroMa. Ratings vary. Song suggestions welcome!
1. I Will Follow You Into the Dark

**A/N::** Inspired by the Death Cab for Cutie song of the same title.

* * *

Black*Star involuntarily grabbed Tsubaki's hand, squeezing it gently as the tears from her face fell on to the knot they were making. Normally, Tsubaki would have blushed at his touch. But today, she merely covered her face with a hand, trying to stop the crying.

Liz stood, sweating, next to Kid, with Patti on the other side. They were all wearing the same dumb-struck, open-mouthed expression. But Kid couldn't appreciate the perfect symmetry at a time like this.

Maka was the only one not crying or wearing some sort of expression of shock. Ironically, her body itself had gone into shock. She was still holding Soul in weapon form, simply staring at the mess she had created. My fault. This is my fault.

No, it isn't. Don't think that, Soul chimed in. It isn't anybody's fault.

"I can't believe…we lost." Liz was crumbling on the inside, but her outside refused to move. Everyone was frozen to the same places. Shibusen had fallen, the kishin had won. This was the end of the world.

They had never stopped to think about what they were going to do if they lost, because losing was simply not an option. There was no back-up emergency plan. They'd fought with all of their hearts, throwing everything they had at the enemy. And they still lost. They hadn't even won the battle. They'd just lost the whole damn war.

Kid put one hand on either sister's backs, eyes closed and head bent.

Tsubaki physically fell apart into Black*Star's arms. He held her while she cried, but he couldn't do much else. He didn't know what to say.

Maka finally put Soul down, and he transformed back into human form. He entwined his fingers with Maka's. Like everybody else, he didn't even know what to say. He looked at her sideways. She still looked determined, but he didn't know why. She turned to look at him, smiling sadly. "I have an idea." He felt his face brighten up. He wasn't sure what could possibly help them now, but he wasn't about to nay-say any ideas.

She leaned over and kissed him softly. Soul blushed, but kissed her back. He could feel her soul wavelength pulsating through her lips. She pulled away. "But you have to leave."

"Wait, what?" He thought she must have been going insane he blinked slowly at her. She let his hand go, staring at the ground.

"It's too dangerous. You can't be here when it happens." She turned to look at her friends and allies. "You all have to leave. It's too dangerous." Eruka and Free, who'd been held captive by Shibusen and remaining silent until this point, slowly raised their hands.

"I'm immortal," Free began. "And she's a witch. Whatever it is, I'm sure we can take it."

Maka paused. "I'm not sure either could save you now."

"Well, I sure as Hell would rather take whatever it is then go back to Medusa. Bitch still hasn't gotten those snakes out of my body" Eruka grumbled.

"And what good is living forever," he looked at Eruka shyly, "if you have to watch everyone you love die?"

Eruka blushed and looked straight at Maka. "Whatever it is, we want to help."

"But you're on the enemy's side," Kid reminded her.

Eruka shook her head. "Medusa forced me into it with her snakes. I just wanted to live my life unnoticed…maybe some ecoterrorism here and there but nothing too major."

"And I just didn't have anything else better to do" Free added with a shrug.

Maka nodded.

"I'm staying."

"Kid –" Liz gasped.

Patti grabbed onto Kid's arm. "If Kiddo is staying, so am I. I won't abandon my meister!"

Liz grimaced. "And I won't abandon my sister."

"But you guys, this is dangerous. We are going to be killed –"

"I can't possibly surpass God if I can't live up to this challenge" Black*Star said with a smile. "But Tsubaki – you need to leave with Soul."

"Wait a minute, who the Hell says I'm leaving?"

"I am. You can't stay you. You can't die."

"And you can?"

"Listen, this is payback for Crona –"

Soul growled in frustration, grabbing on to Maka's arms, dragging her closer. He kissed her forcefully. She wanted to squirm away, knowing that he could convince her of anything if he really wanted to, but it was no use. She went limp, blushing when his teeth bit her lip, and she actually like the sensation. Black*Star whistled at the two and Tsubaki, never too upset to correct her meister's rude behaviour, smacked him on the back of the head.

"How many times do I have to tell you, that's what I do. That's my job."

"It seems like a little more than that" Kid smirked. It was now Liz and Patti's turn to smack their meister on the back of the head.

"I'm not leaving you. I refuse to." He grabbed onto her hand. "So you can either accept me here or leave with me, but I'm not leaving you behind." She smiled gratefully, once again lacing her fingers with his.

"Thank you, Soul."

Yes, yes. I love you, you love me, we all love each other. Now what's the plan, girlie-girl? The Demon hissed.

Maka straightened her gait. "So…we're all staying?"

"For the millionth time, yes. Now let's get the show on the road!" Tsubaki shouted.

Black*Star looked up at her, impressed. "I love you so much sometimes, you know."

Oh for the love of God, can we stop with the little love confessions? It's not like you'll be able to make little half-weapon or half-witch babies (Soul and Free both growled at this) when you're dead. So like the well-endowed one said, let's get this show on the road.

Silently, Maka motioned Kid over to her. Grabbing Patti's hand (who then grabbed Liz's, who grabbed Eruka's, and so on), they formed a circle on the ground below where the kishin was floating. All smiling, they resonated together, forming a dome over the area. Maka and Soul grinned at each other one last time.

"It's been nice knowing you."

"I'll see you on the other side."


	2. Misery

**A/N::** Inspired by "Misery" by Maroon 5, and contains the lyrics from said song.

* * *

"Oh, what the Hell did I do now?" Soul wondered, rubbing a bloody dent in his head. Maka had been angry at him a lot this weekend, and for no reason whatsoever. Today in particular, she walked up to him and slammed his head with a dictionary, and continued walking. Usually she'd yell at him about whatever it was first, but more and more recently, she'd just snap "baka" and walk on. It was seriously beginning to bother him.

Soul trailed behind Maka, trying hard not to stare at her ass as her miniskirt swished back and forth, nearly showing off her underwear. Soul used his other hand to cover up an impending nosebleed, now wondering why he was such a glutton for pain. Maka would surely kill him if she saw, although she'd assume Blair or "some scantily-clad whore" was the source. Soul snorted. As if she's one to talk.

As if Maka had read his mind, she turned around, red in the face, hissing like a snake. "Watch your mouth, Soul Eater Evans." Instead of being greeted by a math textbook, he was greeted by the palm of her hand, dragging his left cheek through his face as it travelled across his head.

Soul stood perplexed as she ran off him. "Seriously!" he yelled to the crowded hallway, "what am I doing wrong?"

X- x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X – x – X - x – X – x – X – X

Soul figured that Maka had just run home, locked her door, and flopped on her bed, like she did every other time Soul did something wrong. Soul knew from countless hours of banging nonstop on Maka's door that she wasn't going to answer. He also knew that the likelihood that she was going to tell him what he did wrong was about the same percent as the likelihood of Blair ever wearing something as simple as jeans and a teeshirt. So he figured maybe threats might work.

"Hey, Maka, open this door, or I'm going to start singing!" Maka didn't say anything. "Maka, I'm being serious! I'm going to start singing unless you just tell me what I did wrong!"

"Go away, Soul!"

Soul sighed dramatically. "You leave me no choice, then." Soul cleared his throat and took off his jacket, and started singing raspily:

"So scared of breaking it, but you won't let it bend. And I wrote two hundred letters I won't ever send. Sometimes these cuts are so much deeper than they seem –"

Despite the fact that he had no audience, he closed his eyes and danced like some sort of a boy-band back-up dancer, with one hand bracing himself on the door, and the other on his heart.

"- You'd rather cover up, I'd rather let them be. So let me be, and I'll set you free."

Soul suddenly dropped to the floor to try to sing under it.

"I am in misery, there ain't nobody who can comfort me."

Maka shoved something under the door to try to block him out. Went back up to his knees, in a proposal position, hands clasped together as if he was praying.

"Why won't you answer me? The silence is slowing killing me!"

He jumped back up to his feet, snapping his fingers and dancing back and forth ridiculously. Blair, who had just got back from work, watched curiously, suppressing a giggle.

"Girl, you really got me bad, you really got me bad. Now, I'm gonna get you back, I'm gonna get you back!"

Maka finally opened her door, an annoyed look on her face. She opened her mouth to lecture Soul, but he interrupted her by jumping in front of her face, hands on the door frame and a wicked smile on his face.

"Your salty skin and how it mixes in with mine –"

Maka blushed and backed up at the implications behind the lyrics. "Soul, stop it, you're making me blush." Soul took his chance at her off guard stance and grabbed left hand, wrapping his other arm around waist, the grin still on his face.

"The way it feels to be completely intertwined –"

Maka tried to wiggle away from him, but only wound up falling onto her bed. Soul knelt back down, his hands on her knees. Too dangerously close, in Maka's opinion, to looking up her skirt. He was now whispering at her, a soft and sad look on his face. She almost felt bad for pushing him away.

"It's not that I didn't care, it's that I didn't know –"

Almost. He was now climbing on top of her, pinning her to the bed, and growling the lyrics into her ear.

"It's not what I didn't feel, it's what I didn't show."

His lips brushed her cheek, which again flared up. She wasn't sure what to do now – she enjoyed the pleasant sensation of his warm breath tickling her skin. And after his behaviour this week, she felt like this was somehow making up for it.

His lips were almost firmly against hers as he pressed on.

"So let me be, and I'll set you free."

Maka closed her eyes, softly speaking the words with him.

"I am in misery, there ain't nobody who can comfort me. Why won't you answer me? The silence is slowly killing me –"

Maka cut the song short by leaning up a bit and kissing him firmly. It was now his turn to be caught off guard, and he fell off her, crashing onto the floor. Maka sat back up. The two were blushing and breathing hard.

Blair, who was sitting in Maka's doorway, chuckled heartily. "My my, wouldn't Death Scythe love to see this!"

Blair pranced off before either Soul or Maka could stop her. The pair turned to look at one another. Soul grinned lazily at Maka. "So…what did I do wrong?"

"Well, for one, you've been speaking all of your thoughts out loud for the past week-"

"I've been what?"

"And for another," she got up off the bed and walked over to Soul. She stood in front of him, bending down to look at him in the eye. And so he could see down her shirt, not that she'd ever admit to doing something so mischievous as that. "Inferring that your girlfriend is a whore because her skirts are too short is so. Not. Cool." She kissed him softly on the cheek, and, upon leaving, remarked. "That, and you were at least two beats off."


	3. I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How

**A/N:** Inspired by "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance With You" by the Black Kids. Oddly enough, I actually don't like this song.

* * *

Soul did not like clubbing one bit. Especially when it was all going so horribly, like this.

He had no idea who had suggested that they go clubbing, in this club, of all the infernal places, but he wanted to kill them. Everything about this club was suggestive, the music was shitty, the smell was giving him a headache, and worst of all, he wanted to hit every single person who walked by him.

A waitress rubbed his arm. "Hey hun, you don't look to relaxed there."

"No shit, Sherlock." He threw his arm out aggressively, making the waitress trip. She glared at him.

"What the Hell was that for?"

"Invading my personal bubble."

Soul didn't really like drinking, but he'd decided to get shitfaced when he saw Maka dirty dancing with Kid. Maka was so-so at dancing, but Kid looked like a beaver having a seizure, and Soul hadn't ever seen either. Soul was now stumbling around aimlessly, wondering where Black*Star and Tsubaki had gotten off to. He stood still for a minute, wobbling and thinking. He didn't want to know.

He pushed through the crowd, looking for Kid and Maka. Boy, was he ever gonna teach that little shit a thing or two about touching his girl…

He finally found them. He attempted to hit Kid, but his blade came out and he wound up slashing him in the cheek.

"What was that for?" Soul mumbled something. "What?"

"I said quitting hitting on Maka!"

"Hitting on her – what the fuck are you smoking?" Soul didn't dignify his question with a verbal answer. But his physical answer sent Kid smashing into the wall. People quickly took their eyes off of their dates, crowding around shouting for a fight.

Liz, standing on the outside of the circle, slapped her forehead. "Oh, for the love of God…"

Kid raised his hand to slap Soul, but Soul lunged first, punching him full on the stomach. He slapped and hit, beating the ever-loving shit out of Kid until Maka grabbed his arm in mid-swing.

"How much have you had to drink, Soul?"

Soul swayed back and forth, bleary-eyed. "That depends, Maka…how many of you are there right now?"

Maka groaned in exasperation, dragging Soul out of the club by the ear.

"What the Hell is wrong with you?"

"What the Hell is wrong with me? What the Hell is wrong with Kid?" he stumbled back and forth, incapable of standing still or in one place. "Kissing you…grinding up against you…perv…" he murmured.

Maka stood, head tilted a tad, one hand over her mouth trying to hide her chuckling. "Soul, are you jealous?"

"Jealous! No! Yes! I don't know!" he finally fell onto his knees, face down on the sidewalk.

Maka sighed again. "And this would be so romantic if you weren't about to vomit."

X – x – X – x – X – x – X- x – X – x – X – x – X- x – X- x – X – x – X- x – X – x – X

As a child, Soul had drunk his fair share of cold medicine to fall asleep. The sleep hangovers he woke up with then were nothing compared to the monstrosity he was experiencing now.

"Well, good morning sleeping beauty." Maka had a smug look in her eye. Soul groaned, hand out for the coffee pot. Maka turned around and put a mug of freshly made coffee in his hand.

Soul stumbled backwards. One of the few things he actually remembered doing last night… "Thanks."

"No problem." He could smell her cooking…something. He sat down at the kitchen table, one hand on his forehead.

"Fuck it… Maka, how much did I drink last night?"

"According to the barmaid, half a bottle of 100 proof cherry vodka. Funny, I thought it would take more to get you drunk."

He grimaced. "I'm surprisingly light-weight."

She put the food down in front of him and sat opposite. As Soul ate, his headache began to clear up bit by bit. By the time he was done, his hangover had mostly subsided. Ah, the plus sides of being a Death weapon, he thought.

"Blair also helped your hangover a bit." Soul looked up and saw Maka making circles on the top of her mug, like she was trying to do that wine glass trick.

"What's up?"

"Why did you hit Kid last night?"

Soul scratched the back of his head. That was one of the copious amounts of things about last night he didn't remember. "Shit…no clue."

Maka started twirling her mug around, head bobbing in time to some non-existent music. "He was dancing with you."

Maka looked up. "Huh?"

"You two were dirty dancing!" now the both of them were blushing. "God!" he stood up to go back to his room. Maka jumped up, grabbing his arm.

"It doesn't mean anything."

"The Hell it doesn't! You were grinding up against him!"

"Soul," Maka was looking at him deadly seriously. "Kid doesn't exactly swing this way –"

"I oughta kill him for – Wait, what?"

"You wouldn't dance with me, so I figured, better dancing with him than Black*Star or some random stranger."

"Kid is –" she slapped a hand over Soul's mouth.

"Don't tell anybody."

Soul sighed in relief. "Oh, good. Thought I was going to lose my girlfriend to a twirp."

"Since when am I your girlfriend?"

Soul could have pointed that she'd spent the last several months holding his hand for absolutely no reason whatsoever, but decided instead that sticking his tongue down her throat was much more effective.

Maka came out blushing. "If you're going to be teasing anyone, you've gotta be teasing me, okay? Please?"

She smiled deviously. "Oh. Yes. And believe me. There will be teasing." She licked his neck before pushing him back on the couch… and walking away to do the dishes.


	4. Vermillion Pt 1

**A/N:** Inspired by the disturbing "Vermillion Pt 1" by Slipknot. The video is especially creepy.

* * *

Maka twirled Soul through her fingers. The sensation was like water dripping down her hands. She swung him through the air, smashing the planks of the decimated building to pieces. Soul would have been terrified were he anyone, anything, or anywhere but the weapon in Maka's hands. She drug him through the wall behind her as she ran alongside it, giggling maniacally.

Fighting fire with fire was a bad enough idea in general. Fire and fire would just make a bigger fire. Clear though it sounded no one ever seemed to think of that. But this wasn't fire. This was worse. This was insanity.

She twirled her body around, keeping Soul close to her chest. He thought he was going to be sick. She planted the bottom of his pole firmly into the ground, spinning around it. He wasn't sure how much longer he could stand watching her to this to herself. They needed a good way to fight Crona, but he wasn't sure that this was the best way to go about doing so.

'Maka…' She slid across the floor as the roof came down.

'Come out, come out, wherever you are!'

A shadow crept across the floor, bleeding onto the walls and ceilings. Soul felt the insanity invading his veins. He started shaking.'

No.

Maka was laughing.

And now Soul was afraid. 'Maka, we should get out of here.'

'And what, miss all the fun?'

The dark pool on the floor that Soul thought was shadow formed an arm that punched Maka on the chin, flinging her across the room. The pool on the floor that Soul thought was shadow snickered deviously.

'Maka…that's Ragnarok.'

'Ooo.'

'Long time no see,' he shrieked. 'Flat as ever, bitch. Let's see what you're like down there!' He grabbed onto Maka's skirt, but she brought her leg around, kicking Ragnarok's newly-formed head off. She shadow scurried away to reform, but Maka counteracted by swinging Soul around frantically, bringing down what was left of the building. Ragnarok attempted to grab Maka's leg, Soul assumed to hold her upside down. Ragnarok's hand went straight through Maka's ankle.

'Ooh hoo hoo, I got you. Who's the bitch now, bitch?' Soul watched as Maka cut, slashed, smacked, whacked, and hacked at Ragnarok, and he had to admit that he found it strangely appealing.

Maka stomped on a plank of wood, petrifying Ragnarok's body beneath it. She placed Soul's blade on top of it and jerked Ragnarok's face forward.

'Where is Crona?'

'Bite me, bitch.'

There was a sickening, squelching sound.


	5. Vermillion Pt 2

A/N: And this part was inspired by - you guessed it - the gorgeous "Vermillion Pt 2" by Slipknot. People tell me they find the music video terrifying, but I find it peaceful.

* * *

'Maka, I think you can come out of that state now.'

'No...Soul…I can…take it…oh…ugh…man, my head hurts…'

'Yeah, yeah that happens.'

'How do you deal with this?'

'Suffer in silence.'

'I can't imagine how. I think I'll stop throwing books at you now.'

Soul was smug. 'I'd much appreciate that. Any sign of Crona?' Maka stopped in her tracks, breathing slowly.

'I can't really sense anything. Crona used to have a really strong soul. But then, so did Ragnarok.' She rubbed her head. 'I don't know how they got separated, but they're not nearly as strong apart. I think we'll have a fighting chance.'

'Oh, we'll see about that.' Crona slammed Maka's head with the palm of his hand, but grabbed onto Soul. Maka's hand was clenched. Crona swung Maka around, flinging her into the wall.

'What would you be, without Soul?' Crona ran a hand creepily down Soul. Soul felt violated. 'You are nothing, that is what you are. Without Soul, you cannot fight.' He contemplated Soul, running his hands the length of his pole. And then he snapped the Scythe in half, twirled Soul in his fingers, and then launched Soul into an adjacent room.

Maka couldn't remember screaming or even feel herself screaming but she heard it. The sound was so high-pitched and unrealistic that it broke down the walls containing the insanity she was withholding.

The Black Blood curdled through her skin. It broke through and formed the dress she normally wore in Soul's room. Blades formed onto her arms, much like the ones on her dad's back when he went half into weapon mode while staying half in human mode.

'Now, that's something new.'

'Bring it.'

The two attempted to exchange blows, but it mostly devolved into patterned blocking. Maka swung an arm at Crona's head. A nasty cut formed. Crona started coughing up blood.

'Your blood isn't black anymore.' Crona's eyes flashed. He took advantage of Maka's temporary shock and pounced on her, holding her knees down and pinning her hands above her. 'Get the fuck off of me.'

'I wanted to be like him, you know.' Crona was being so nonchalant and so not Crona that Maka was being driven even more insane.

'What the fuck are you talking about?'

'Soul…' He licked her cheek. 'I could see how much you liked him…I thought maybe…' He licked her nose. 'You liked me more…you were so worried about me…' he licked her other cheek. 'But it was a lie, wasn't it? Putting my faith in a lie. I thought you loved me…I was wrong.'

He kissed her. Maka tried to wiggle free. 'You weren't exactly wrong, Crona.' His grip lightened. 'But there is one thing that you didn't count on: I love Soul more than you.'

'NO!' He lifted a hand to scratch at her face. Her whole hand turned into a knife and stabbed Crona's cheek, tearing part of it off. Crona stood up, kicking Maka's face. 'Never again! You are going to love me!'

Maka tripped Crona with her right foot, standing up with her left and flipping Crona over. She stabbed Crona, pinning him to the siding through his stomach. 'I will never love you.'

Crona screamed, attempting to push Maka away, but it was too late. He bled to death, coating Maka's knife with a thick, murky red.

Maka jerked the knife out of Crona's stomach, placing her arm by her side. Everything had gone back to normal. It had also started to rain.

She trudged through the house. The blood formed little rivers from her boots. She collapsed to her knees, bowing over Soul. She put his head to his forehead. 'You would die to save my life…now I will die to save yours.'

She pressed her lips softly to his, concentrating on forcing her soul to him. She could live on, physically, without her soul. She wouldn't be able to do the most basic of things, but living without her soul was better than living without her partner.

She seemed to be achieving her objective. She could feel her soul leaving her body. She felt weak.

Then she felt her soul entering her body. She opened her eyes and met red ones, staring confusedly.

'Maka, what's –' Maka kissed him softly insisting that her soul go into his. He used his tongue to push it back.

'Soul, if you don't accept my soul, you're going to die.'

'No I won't. What gave you that impression?'

'Crona just broke you in half…'

He reached weakly under his shirt and pulled out an amulet. 'I asked Kim for this. I meant to give it to you…forgot.'

Maka started laughing. She kissed the amulet and pecked Soul on the lips, pulling him up to her. He swayed on the spot, leaning on Maka's shoulder. 'Dammit, I hate being weak.'

'Just…lean on me. For now.'

Soul allowed Maka to pull him out of the house. He stopped her for a moment. 'Hey Soul, you okay?'

He turned to face her. 'Maka…you are the coolest.' He pressed her lips to her, slowly forming it into a kiss. Maka kissed him back. He managed a quick 'Thank you' against her lips before passing out.


	6. Me Yr Daughter

**A/N:** Inspired by the song "Me + Yr Daughter" by Brite Futures (formally Natalie Portman's Shaved Head)

* * *

Soul sat casually on the couch of their apartment, his arms stretched on the back. He crossed his legs and looked to the left. To anyone who didn't know Soul, he might appear relaxed. To Black*Star and Kid, both sitting to his right, he looked scared out of his wits.

The three boys were waiting for their dates – their female partners – to exit the room so they could get going to the dance. It wasn't another anniversary celebration, but the tradition of prom that normal students got to experience. Lord Death had been hoping it would help them to relax, but it seemed to do more harm than good. After all, Black*Star had broken the arms of every other student who dared to look twice at Tsubaki (although they weren't supposed to go with their partners anyway). Kid had insisted on taking Crona, who was about his height by now and a tad more symmetrical than anyone else in the group (at least, according to Kid, who dressed poor Crona for the event). Maka was originally going to go with Kilik while Patti and Liz went with dates of their own (random boys no one else in the group knew, but had rented a limo to attract their attention)…But, of course, plans changed. At the last minute, Harvar got sick and Kilik cancelled on Maka to go with his first-choice date, Jackie.

Soul had been sitting at home minding his own business when Maka, who should have been getting ready for the dance, came home and flopped on the couch. She let her feet dangle over the arms of the couch. She crossed her arms and pouted.

Soul, a game controller in one hand, looked down at her. "You okay?"

Maka glared at him and turned over to face the couch. "I don't want to talk about it," she muttered to the couch.

"C'mon Maka. I thought you were supposed to be getting ready for the dance. What're you doing back here?" Soul placed a hand on her head and turned her back around. "What happened?"

"Kilik dumped me" she mumbled. She put a pillow over her head and held it down. Soul watched as her chest shook. Oh shit, he thought. She's crying. Now what do I do?

"Uhm, Maka, I – I can go with you, I guess."

"No, Soul," she sat up and threw the pillow at the wall. "Don't worry about it, I'll just read or something."

"Oh come on, Maka. You've been talking about this dance for ages, you might as well go to it. If you don't want to go with me you can always just go on your own and just…dance with Liz or Patti or someone.

"I would be the only one there without a date! No, I'm not going, Soul!" Maka got up and walked towards her bedroom. Soul followed. He wrapped a hand around her wrist and threw her up over his shoulders. "Put me down, Soul! I said I'm not going!"

"Maka Albarn, would you please do me the immense pleasure of being my date to the prom?"

"It's a little late for that – put me down, Soul!"

"Of course I'll pick you up. Half-past eight sound good?"

"Are you even listening to me?"  
"I hope your father won't mind, I'll need to borrow a tux…"

And that is how Soul got to Spirit's apartment, waiting with Kid and Black*Star while Tsubaki and Crona helped pretty Maka up for the event. Soul groaned as Death Scythe entered the room again, still glaring at her.

"I'd like to know your intentions with my daughter, young man."

"Seriously? I live with her, perform soul resonance with her, and nearly die for or with her every day, but yet you think my taking her to a dance shows some sort of ulterior motive?"

Spirit looked at Soul from the corner of his eyes. "I'll be watching you, boy. I'm chaperoning the dance."

Soul sighed. "Look, Mister Death-Scythe, Maka is my friend. We're going to go to the dance, she'll probably break my foot by stepping on it, and then we'll spend the end of the dance trying to pull Black*Star off the rafters. It's not like I'm going to try to kiss her or anything. I mean, by the time we're done helping Tusbaki with Black*Star, none of us is going to have any energy to even take our clothes off before falling asleep."

Soul leaned back again. "So don't sweat it, old man. It'll be cool."

X – x – x – x- x – x –x –x –x –x –x –x –x –x –x –x – x- x – x – x – x – x – x – x – x- x – x – X

Soul was very, very wrong about the way his evening would be going. When Maka stepped out of the guest room with Tsubaki and Crona, all jaws dropped. Tsubaki, as always, was stunning. Crona had been cleaned up and made to look more feminine. Kid presented her with two flowers, one for each side, so she could be symmetrical. Maka was wearing a slinky black dress that hugged her figures in ways that should have made her father, gushing about how beautiful she was, feel very awkward.

Soul shifted uncomfortably in his seat before standing up and giving Maka a red rose for a wrist corsage – courtesy of Kid who, for some bizarre reason, had brought an array of flowers with him.

Black*Star had spent the beginning of the dance dirty-dancing with Tsubaki, the middle of it crying, and the end of it kissing her vigorously. Kid, as to be expected, spend the whole dance trying to make sure that he and Crona remained perfectly symmetrical, in light of the wild dancing.

Maka had her arms draped around Soul's neck, her back to his chest and his hands around her hips. Soul didn't like dancing this way, but at the time it was the only way they could both dance without getting kicked out and converse with Tsubaki and Black*Star.

"So Maka, whatchu think about the dance?" Black*Star asked.

Maka shrugged. "Seems like you two are having a great time, though." Black*Star grinned and made a move on Tsubaki. Tsubaki gasped, but didn't reprimand him. The two disappeared.

Soul, uncomfortable, attempted to move positions so that Maka didn't feel anything she wasn't supposed to feel. Luckily, she let go of him to watch Black*Star and Tsubaki running away. Spirit was glaring at Soul and making gestures to imply what he might do to soul, should he catch Soul rubbing up against his daughter again. Soul shrugged sheepishly.

Maka turned to Soul and looked down at the ground. "So…I guess you won't wanna be staying here long."

Soul shrugged. "It doesn't really have anything to do with want so much as your dad might kill me."

A slow song came on. Soul glanced around the gym as many couples stuck their tongues in each others' mouths. He grimaced. "How many cases of mono do you think we'll have in school tomorrow?"

Maka giggled. She seemed preoccupied.

Awkwardly, Soul held out his hand. Maka took it and the two began to dance slowly, the way they did when they were in Soul's soul. Maka rested her head on his shoulder, smiling.

X – x – x – x – x – x – x – x – x – x – x – x – x – x – x – x – x – x – x – x – x – x – x – X

The real trouble began after the dance. Maka and Soul felt a little light-headed, but Kid and Black*Star were just rearing to go. Their excitement lead the others on a wild goose chase about town, while Black*Star and Kid managed to coerce Tsubaki, along with Liz and Patti – who had long ditched their dates – into a drinking contest.

Soul and Maka managed to corral the others by about midnight. Soul helped Maka drop the other girls in Maka's room. They closed the door and faced each other.

"Uh," Soul started. "I should probably go back to Kid's place with..Kid and…Black*Star…you know…make sure they don't have…alcohol poisoning…or something."

"Yeah." Maka twirled one of her ponytails around her fingers. Silently, she dropped it and put her hands on Soul's shoulders. They kissed softly for several minutes before Maka, much to both her and Soul's surprise, stuck her tongue into his mouth and pushed him up against the wall. Maka fiddled with the button's on Soul's shirt. No, Soul, no – you're going to get yourself killed, why are you doing this – Soul thought to himself as his right hand reached for Maka's zipper –

The door banged open. Maka gasped and pulled away from Soul, making sure to keep her dress up over her chest. Her right ponytail had fallen out, and her dad was standing in the doorway. Spirit's face remained blank for all of three seconds, allowing Soul to escape with Spirit shouting behind him, "Just because she's of age now doesn't mean you have to defile her, you pervert!"


End file.
